Ahhhh, dairy.
There are a few different schools of thought about venturing into a carnivore experiment.
Some advocate for a transition phase of meat, salt, and water while still doing dairy and eggs, or maybe some spices.
Others advocate jumping straight in to the most hardcore version of beef, salt, and water.
For my first 30 days, I decided to do meat, salt, water, and spices, but cut out dairy and eggs.
Whether YOU should do dairy is completely up to you and depends on a host of factors, but here are a a few reasons I specifically decided to take it out.
- I can’t moderate. In the past, I’ve consistently over-eaten cheese, heavy cream, or half-and-half in lieu of meat and veggies.
- It’s addictive. Eating dairy just makes me crave more dairy, plus crave sugar and carbs. I knew the fact I really REALLY didn’t want to give it up probably meant that I should.
- I’m sensitive to it. Food allergy tests have shown me I’m highly allergic to dairy and eggs. Dairy is the #2 top allergen after gluten. A dairy allergy can be hard to pin down with delayed signs like skin issues, inflammation, joint pain, bloating, fatigue, cravings, or mood changes.
- It would slow my progress. Dairy (especially milk) is insulogenic, meaning it promotes muscle and fat gain. In fact, many people stalled in their fat loss find that cutting out dairy kick-starts it again. Since fat loss was one of my goals, and I need to see immediate results if I’m going to stick with something long-term, I knew cutting it out would be best. I didn’t want anything inhibiting my progress.
Does anything in my story resonate with what you know about yourself to be true? Here are a few more things to ponder when deciding if you should keep dairy in:
- What are your body composition goals?
- What are your health goals? Do you have an autoimmune disease or a disease that will benefit from more insulin sensitivity, like PCOS or Type 2 Diabetes?
- Are you an Abstainer or a Moderator? Can you have just a little dairy and be satisfied, or does having a little make you want to eat more?
- Do you generally prefer baby steps, or ripping off the Band-Aid?
Wow, I love this. I identify with this so much, and love your video…the visual image of drinking heavy cream at the fridge… I love your details of why and how IRL
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UGH, this is exactly what I needed to hear today, even though I did NOT want to hear it!! Heavy cream in coffee is my biggest weakness!
Isn’t it so hard?! Dairy is like that last addiction we want to hold onto. It’s like, “listen. You’ve taken my grains, my bread, my sugar. LET ME HAVE THIS THING.” ? But I KNOW the fact it’s super addictive for me means it’ll just be easier if it’s not an option!